The invention relates to tactical garments for police work and in particular to a shirt with a pocket for containing and allowing efficient retrieval of a concealed weapon, especially a handgun.
Garments worn by police and having flaps, pockets and other devices for containing and concealing a weapon are known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,131,198, 5,845,336, 5,692,237, 5,689,829, 4,882,786 and 4,545,079. Previous such garments, however, have failed to provide for rapid retrieval of a weapon, particularly a handgun, through use of a comfortable and natural movement and preferably requiring only one hand, in a casual shirt which appears as a normal button-front shirt of linen, cotton, khaki, etc.
The assignee of this invention has previously marketed a prior art shirt called the Expedition shirt. That shirt had a pocket in a location generally similar to that of the invention, but with a smaller cavity and with seams which were differently-located and more apparent. The pocket opened in a different manner, and in addition, the fabric of the Expedition shirt had a weight of only about 3.5 ounces per square yard, inadequate for the tactical purposes of the shirt described below.